Necktie and tying aid therefor



1970 .J. WEBSTER NECKTIE AND TYING AID THEREFOR Filed Aug. 31, 1967 INVENTOR. JOHN WEBSTER BY QM, MA/WA 5M AT TGRNEYS United States Patent 3,490,073 NECKTIE AND TYING AID THEREFOR John Webster, Saratoga, Calif. (7085 Santa Irene Circle, Apt. 119, Buena Park, Calif. 90620) Filed Aug. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 664,771 Int. "Cl. A41d 25/06 US. Cl. 2-146 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A necktie of the four-in-hand type having a front face and a rear face and side edges and large end and a smaller end, characterized by having an isosceles trapezoidal felt strip adhered to said back face with its major and minor bases generally parallel to said side edges and well inset therefrom and with said major base extending toward large end from a point spaced from the midpoint between said ends by a distance equal in inches to one half of the shirt neck size minus 3% inches, the angle between the major base and the sides being approximately 60, thereby enabling the tying of a Windsor knot with improved appearance and accuracy.

This invention relates to an improved necktie and to an improved tying aid for neckties of the four-in-hand type. Of the various knots used in tying four-in-hand ties, the invention is particularly applicable to the Wind sor knot.

In a properly tied necktie, the ends are aligned either to be exactly the same length, or sometimes, the top portion slightly longer than the bottom. The knot itself should be neat and smooth. While this can be achieved by study and effort, many people seem never to learn exactly how to tie a necktie with precision; even those who do achieve proficiency find that many neckties that they wear do not give as good knots as they should. Wrinkles appear, and the effective life of the tie itself is shortened by such wrinkles and creases.

The present invention is intended to solve the problem by providing a strategically located attachment to the tie which makes it easy to obtain perfect alignment and an excellent knot.

In summary, the invention provides a small felt strip shaped like an isosceles trapezoid and located 'at a particular location on the rear face of the front or wide portion of the necktie. When properly located, this strip enables correct alignment of the tie ends, causes the tie to slide smoothly and easily at the knot, ends wrinkles in the knot and prolongs the ties life; even an inexperienced person can tie his cravat quite expertly by following simple directions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a package embodying the principles of the invention including at least one necktie, a set of necktie aids of this invention, a gauge, and a series of panels containing directions or illustrations.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a flat trapezoidal felt strip embodying the principles of the invention, in a size used for relatively wide four-in-hand neckties.

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 of a modified form of strip, as used for narrower neckties.

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective showing a necktie folded in half with the rear side out preparatory to locating the strip.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a gauge according to this invention placed beside the folded neck- 3,490,073 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 tie of FIG. 4, in order to locate the upper edge of the strip.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the location of a strip for a size 15 neck.

FIG. 7 is a perspective fragmentary view of a shirt collar and adjustment shirt portion and a necktie about to be tied according to the principles of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the necktie knot in phantom, showing the location of the trapezoidal strip in the tied knot.

FIG. 9 is a view of a modified form of the invention giving a less-perfect knot but enabling proper alignment of necktie ends for various neck sizes.

I have found that a short trapezoidal strip 10 of felt adhered to a necktie 11 at a particular location will give the needed improvement, enabling one to tie a perfect knot with perfect alignment of the ends. The trapezoidal strip 10 may be varied in size according to the width of the necktie 11 being used, being approximately half the width of the tie. For example, for ordinary width ties the trapezoid 10 of FIG. 2 may be approximately 2% inches long with the distance between the major and minor bases 12 and 13 approximately three-quarters of an inch. For a narrower tie, a strip 10a may be about two inches long with half-inch distance between the bases 12a and 13a. The sides 14 and 15 (or 14a and 15a) of the trapezoid 10 or 10a. preferably make an angle of approximately 60 with the major base 12. Preferably, the strip 10 is felt having a good pressure sensitive adhesive on one face, and which clings to cloth when pressed thereon. The felt should be approximately one-eighth inch thick.

It is important to locate the strip 10 properly, and therefore in a set 20 (FIG. 1) embodying the invention I prefer to provide a gauge 21 which correlates various neck sizes with the proper place for locating the strip 10 relative to the midpoint of the necktie, that is, from the line 22 midway between its two ends, 23 and 24.

A four-in-hand necktie 11 has a front face 25 and a rear face 26, and its side edges 27 and 28 slightly diverge from a small end 24 to its large end 23. Folding the tie 11 in half to find the midpoint 22, one then takes the gauge 21 and applies it to find the location for one corner 30 of the major base 12. The major base 12 extends from this edge toward the large end 23 of the necktie on the rear face 26 of the large half of the tie. The strip 10 should be positioned as shown in FIG. 6, to lie centered between the two edges 27 and 28 with major and minor bases 12 and 13 approximately parallel to the side edges and with the corner 30 of the major base 12 at the wearers neck size line shown on the gauge 21.

The user of the tie in placing the strip on the tie places it in one way for a right-handed person and in another way for a left-handed person. The rule is that the major base 12 is on the righthand side of the tie, looking from the back, for right handed users, and on the lefthand side for lefthanded users.

The correct way of locating the neck size on the gauge 21 may be expressed by stating that the strip 10 should be spaced from the midjoint 22 a distance equal in inches to one half of the wearers shirt neck size minus 3% inches. With the strip 10 properly applied, there will thus be a 30 angle between the upper edge 15 of the strip 10 and an imaginary line 31 extending perpendicularly across the tie 11.

When the tie 11 is being tied, the user puts his tie in his collar and, with the large end a little longer than the small end, puts the edge 27 of the small half of the tie at the point where it lies exactly along the upper edge 15 of the trapezoid 10. Proceeding then in the normal way to tie a Windsor knot, he forms the knot 33 shown in FIG. 8, about the felt strip 10, and as he does so, this 3 causes the knot to have the felt strip inside it. When completed, the knot looks approximately as shown in FIG. 8, with the back end being the only place where there is neither overlap nor an actual engagement. As a result, the tie 11 is held straight all around and presents a very neat appearance.

Ties may, of course, be sold with the strip 10 already mounted, if the ties are sold by neck sizes, but since most ties are preferably sold adaptable to various neck sizes, it is preferable to have the strip 10 sold in a kit containing at least one strip 10 and a gauge 21, plus, at times, neckties, with directions.

As an alternative, shown in FIG. 9, various neck sizes may be marked on a strip 40 on the back 26 of a tie, as they are in bow ties by a little sewn or printed member, and then intersecting lines of 30 are provided to enable one to locate the right angle. This is not as good because it does not add substance to the knot but it does help to locate the proper way to tie the tie. Also, the scale illustrates that it can be used for either right-hand or left-hand tying. The scale for use without the felt marker 10 is slightly different, namely one-half of the neck size minus 3%".

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A necktie of the four-in-hand type having a front face, a rear face, side edges, a large end, and a smaller end, said necktie being characterized by having an isosceles trapezoidal felt strip adhered to said rear face with its major and minor bases inset from and generally parallel to said side edges and with said major base extending toward said large end from a :point spaced from the midpoint between said ends toward said large end by a distance corresponding to the neck size of the wearer.

2. The necktie of claim 1 in which said strip is less than half the width of said necktie and is approximately four times as long as it is wide.

3. The necktie of claim 2 in which the trapezoid is between approximately two and two and one-half inches long by between about one-half and three-quarter inch wide.

4. The necktie of claim 3 wherein the distance of the major base from the center of the necktie is equal in inches to one-half of the shirt size minus three and threequarters inches and wherein the angle between the major base and the sides is approximately 5. A kit for improving the tying qualities of a fourin-hand necktie providing an isosceles trapezoidal felt strip substantially narrower than a necktie to which it is to be applied and having its sides make an angle of approximately 60 with the major base, said strip being approximately four times as long as it is wide and having a pressure sensitive adhesive on its rear face, and a gauge indicating the location of one edge of said strip on a necktie.

6. An attachment for improving the Windsor-knot tying qualities of a four-in-hand necktie, comprising an isosceles trapezoidal felt strip substantially narrower than a necktie to which it is to be applied and having its sides make an angle of approximately 60 with the major base, said strip being approximately four times as long as it is wide and having a pressure sensitive adhesive on its rear face.

7. A necktie of the four-in-hand type having a front face, a rear face, side edges, a larger end, and a smaller end, said necktie being characterized by having an isosceles trapezoidal felt strip between approximately two and two and one-half inches long by between about one-half and three-quarter inch wide, adhered to said rear face with its major and minor bases inset from and generally parallel to said side edges and with said major base extending toward said large end from a point spaced from the midpoint between said ends toward said large end by a distance equal in inches to one-half of the shirt size minutes three and three-quarters inches, and wherein the angle between the major base and the sides is approximately 60.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,343,979 3/1944 Kaplan 2146 2,504,843 4/1950 Kaplan 2-146 3,271,780 9/1966 De Jean 2-145 3,321,773 5/1967 Orcivch 2-146 FOREIGN PATENTS 967,537 6/1948 France.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner P0405) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 569 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,490,073 Dated January 20, 1970 Inventoroi) John Webster It: is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[ Column 2, line 59, "midjoint" should read midpoint Column 4, line 33, "minutes" should read minus SIGNED AND SEALED AUG 4 .197

ra-1 w as Attest:

Ed an! M. Fl whet I w mum z. mam-m, JR. Attesung Offlcer Commissioner of Patents 

